Arduous Honesty
by Jasmin Kaiba
Summary: After the happenings of Love Letters. Logan finally makes the trip to New York. Can Rory and his relationship be salvaged? The only way to find out is by being brutally honest to each other. Logan is ready to give it another shot, but is Rory ready to bare her soul? Read to find out! Rogan/Sophie
1. Chapter 1

**Arduous Honesty**

by Jasmin Kaiba

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><p><strong>Part I<strong>

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><p>When he sees her again after three agonizing years, it's not the fireworks he sometimes dreams about, but it's not the burning pain he'd expected either. It just is. They're standing across each other, deep in the bowels of the Grand Central Station and neither of them can get out a word. For all their ways around words and saying what they mean in so many ways, they're both rendered mute when it comes down to it. It's sad, really.<p>

But, Logan surmises, actions always speak the loudest. So he does what any journalist worth his salt does. He studies her. Her crystal blues are fixed on him, an unreadable expression fixed upon her pretty face. She hasn't changed much. She's thinner, more graceful, her cheeks hollowed, lips plumper, hair longer. All in all she's the same Rory he walked away from on her graduation day three years ago.

Sadly, he's also the same Logan. Hopelessly in love with her, and desperate for any sign that she actually returns the feeling. A fool, his father would say. But his father is dead, and Logan refuses to let the old man haunt him even from the grave.

And then, as if someone had turned a page in a picture book, Rory's face changes. Color floods her ivory cheeks, tinting her skin a lovely shade of red, her eyes glisten like twin skies and the biggest smile he'd ever seen stretches her delicious lips. She takes a few steps forward, eager, but uncertain, pauses and then breaks into a run. A few second later, her slight weight slams into him, her slim arms wrapping around his shoulders, her face pressed into the crook of his neck, her warm breath tickling sensitive skin.

Only one word is necessary to convey all her terrified joy, "Logan," she whispers and he's lost again. Lost in the tumultuous sea of their epic love that was always right, but never quite enough. They were too young, too naive, too inexperienced and too ignorant of the real world all those years ago. All the love in the world wouldn't have been enough to salvage a relationship that was destined to shatter once out of the protective walls of Yale where it was born.

The real world was too jaded, for a love so innocent.

But things are different today. They are different. He's more centered, more self-assured, more free. And she's not anymore the princess trapped in a tower, waiting for a prince to show her the world; she has the world in her grasp, and she knows it.

Today they don't need each other anymore in the ways they did back then. Today they just want each other. And maybe, just maybe, that will be enough.

His arms wrap around her small frame and he pulls her tighter to his chest, breathes a little easier now that her scent is filling his senses again, and he's certain that they wouldn't be making the same mistakes again. Rory and Logan have grown up and they won't be standing in their own way ever again.

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><p><strong>AN: The first part of the promised story after the happenings of Love Letters. It is short, but it's just the beginning. More is coming soon. Thanks to my wonderful beta <span><em>xshynenstarx<em>for her never ending support. I hope you enjoyed it and will tell me what you think.**

**Jas**


	2. Chapter 2

**Part II**

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><p>"I'll make you a deal," Logan drawled with a charming smile on his full lips. "We forget all the angst and suspense for a little while and simply enjoy each other's company for a night? Tomorrow we can go back to our scheduled drama."<p>

Rory pretended to look affronted, but couldn't keep her own smile off for long. "What did you have in mind?" she finally relented.

"Well, I thought about a few drinks, few laughs, and have a good time, like we used to before everything went bat shit crazy."

"Sounds good. We are in New York, after all. Would be a shame not to take advantage of the night life in the City that never sleeps," the grin on her sweet mouth was full of sensual promise and Logan had to bite his tongue not to blurt the first thing that popped in his mind. They were so not ready to take whatever they were trying to rebuild to the physical level yet.

"My thoughts exactly. How about I pick you up around seven and we have some dinner followed by a few drinks and maybe a game or two of pool?"

"Perfect," Rory agreed quickly. "How fancy do you want me for dinner?"

Logan quickly concluded that if her smile didn't kill him, her words would be the end of him. "Well, if you don't mind pizza for dinner, casual would be just fine."

"I never mind pizza for dinner," she said in a tone that implied he should know that fact better than anyone. "Do you have a place in mind?"

He nodded confidently. Years of weekend visits to the City with boys saw to it that he knew all the best and mostly unknown locations for having a good time. "Ray's. A cozy little place in Village. Looks downright shabby from the outside but has the best pizza in New York. And right across is this bar with great imported beer and a few pool tables. The patrons are all locals and never make any trouble, the music is subtle enough to make conversation while playing pool or drinking. I know you don't like clubs and crowds."

"Hmm, too true. It all sounds great to me, so I'll see you around seven. Unfortunately I have to hurry now, my lunch break is over," she smiles and rises from her chair, quickly gathering her purse and jacket in an attempt to mask the shaking of her hands. She has the first-date jitters all over again. And with a man she almost married three years ago. Should have married three years ago. They wouldn't be in this awkward situation if she'd been smarter. Theirs had always been a special brand of awkward, it's no different now.

Logan rises with her, only outwardly composed, but shaking inwardly, his thoughts a curious mix of excited exclamations and wary precautions. "Sure. I should also head back to the office. It seems that I'll be forced onto taking the position if I want it or not. Something to do with the old man's will, I wasn't exactly listening to Shira's jabbering."

"Okay, see you then," Rory tries her best not to sound too forced, but she's absolutely terrified of the night ahead and not able to think clearly at the moment.

Luckily, he lets her off with a small smile, "See you."

They part ways with awkward waves and head into their respective directions lost in their own thoughts.

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><p>"So, I actually managed to score a date with Rory," Logan muttered without looking at Honor as she attempted to find the best place for a painting she bought in Italy on the bare walls of his new office. It's actually Mitchum's; the office; but Logan demanded that all the furniture and everything else disappears if he's to take over the company. Honor was kind enough to comply with his wishes. Only the essentials are in there at the moment; desk, chair, computer and a few files; Honor promised to furbish it completely by the end of the week. Logan trusted her enough to know she'd get it done.<p>

"Really?" his sister asked. "That's great. But how do you go on a date with a girl that refused to marry you?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out, Honor. No need to pour salt on my wounds. Besides we promised to find a way to work it out. I'm hoping that this date will be the first step in the right direction. And I thought you were in the pro Rory faction," he scoffed.

"I am, I am. As long as you're happy, I'm happy baby brother. But it's also my job to bash the girl that broke your heart, so forgive me if I'm not always sunshine and rainbows when she's mentioned," Logan had really missed Honor's candid attitude while he was away in California and would miss it again when he went back. That was kind of inevitable, despite everything.

"I don't mind, sis; just please refrain from bashing her when she's present and we're good."

"Deal. Now is this better on the south or the west wall?" she asked holding the painting up for him to see.

"West."

"If you say so. It's your office," she apparently wasn't happy with his decision.

"Ugh, please don't remind me. It's like that guy can't let me off even from the grave. He chose to die now, when things are so hectic in San Francisco, but I still had to drop everything and come here because of his stupid will. I thought he disinherited me or something, so why am I here?"

"You're his one and only son, his heir. The only other option would have been to leave the company to me, and let's face it; I would have run it to the ground in ten days flat. You actually have real talent for this and the old man knew it," Honor's words didn't have the comforting effect she'd aimed for and Logan slumped against the desktop.

"Great, so if I'd actually been the lazy no good bum he'd always complained I'd become he wouldn't have left me the company and I would be free. But no, I had to prove myself and now I'm back where I started from. I never asked to inherit any of this. I wanted to make my own way," he whined and Honor sighed.

"So sell. It's yours now. As far as I know there's nothing in the will that states you have to keep the company."

"That's asking for Shira to kill me in my sleep."

Honor leans the painting against the wall and faces him, hands on her hips and a stern look in her eyes. "Logan, you didn't let Dad nor Grandpa dictate your life, and you're telling me that Shira is the one more fearsome of the bunch? Seriously?"

"Of course not, but we both know that she won't let me live in peace whatever I do. It'll be ten times worse if I sell this godforsaken company. And I don't want to give her another reason to blame Rory for everything that doesn't go as it should in my life. I want the woman I love back, Honor. And I'm not letting our fucked up family hurt her again."

His sister huffed, but the disgruntled look from before left her face. She understood all too well what he was saying. None of her boyfriends have ever met with her parents' approval, before Josh came along. And even then their grandfather had only grudgingly accepted him. And it's not like Honor was the one who had to carry on the Huntzberger name. That dubious honor had been left for Logan and the boy had gone and fallen for a Gilmore-Hayden. It would have been a dream match, no doubt, if their family wasn't so narrow-minded. Rory was a child born out of wed-lock; her mother had been barely a teenager and had run away from home on top of everything. In the eyes of the stuck up Huntzberger clan it was a disgrace. Not that any of them had any right to point fingers at anybody; especially considering that Shira had been as common as people could get before she got her claws into Mitchum. Old money and class were worlds away from Honor and Logan's maternal grandparents. And there was also the fact that Mitchum had only married Shira because he'd knocked her up. The old adage that you shouldn't throw stones if you sit in a glass house had been lost on those people.

"Yeah," Honor sighed heavily. Every conversation with Logan she'd had over the past three years had been heavy with either their family matters or his lingering regrets over Rory, or both. "Mother is gonna have a fit when she hears that you're pursuing Rory again, _now_ of all times. It was bad enough before, but now Shira could accuse the girl of being a gold digger."

"Fuck!" Logan suddenly exploded, jumping up from his chair and pacing the room. "I didn't think about that. But not even Shira could be that retarded, right? I mean, even I heard in San Francisco that when Straub Hayden's widow; Rory's grandmother, died a year ago that she'd left half of the Hayden fortune to Rory and half to Gigi, Rory's sister. And Rory is the only heir to the Gilmore fortune, so why the heck would she want my money when she has more? It's not logical."

"No one's accused Shira of ever being logical, Logan. That woman only sees things as she wants to see them, everything else be damned."

With a weary and completely exhausted sigh the newly named CEO collapsed back into his seat. "Mother can think what she wants, but if she yaps a bad word about Rory, I'm cutting her off. I hope she won't forget that Daddy Dearest left every single penny to me. That might have been his way of telling her what he never had the balls to say to her face."

"That he never wanted her?"

Logan smirked. "That too, but mainly that without him caring for appearances, she never would have spent a single dollar of his money. He once told me, while drunk mind you, that he was 100% certain she'd trapped him with the pregnancy and that if grandfather hadn't forced him he never would have married her, but told her to get an abortion instead. And those people were supposed to be our role-models."

"It's a miracle we managed to turn out half way decent," Honor agreed with a sigh.

"Exactly."

"Well, as much as I love bashing our parents with you, I do have a life and a daughter, so I'd better go now. I'll call you tomorrow and I want details, Logan!"

"Understood," he snickered, thinking that the details would probably only disappoint her. Though he and Rory had agreed not to talk about their complicated situation, he had a feeling the topic would be unavoidable and they'd end up arguing. Again.

"Great! We'll talk tomorrow, love ya," she blew him a kiss and waltzed out the door. How he envied her freedom. Oh well, only a few more hours sorting through paper work and then he'll be seeing Ace again. That was enough to make him dive into the boring financial reports with a gusto.

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><p>At exactly 7 pm the buzzer sounded in the apartment Rory shared with her friend and co-worker, Maggie Chase. The older red-head abandoned her book and went to let Rory's date up before poking her head into the brunette's bedroom.<p>

"Hey Ror', your date is here."

Rory smiled and took a last glance at the mirror, satisfied. Her simple outfit of skinny, bleached jeans, long sleeved t-shirt with blue and white vertical stripes and sparkly white ballet flats was cute and casual, exactly like she wanted it. She'd decided against make-up, only applying a thin sheen of peach pink lip gloss and a touch of Channel No.5 Maggie had gotten her for her last birthday to her pressure points. Smiling to herself, she turned to Maggie and twirled a little.

"How do I look?"

"Perfect," the older woman smiled warmly and handed Rory her small white purse. "Don't stay out too late and don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"That's not saying much," Rory laughed and opened the door just as Logan knocked.

The moment she saw him, she felt her knees turn to jelly. His wine colored thin sweater clung to every muscle on his chest and arms, the deep v-cut teasing her with a flash of his upper pectorals and collar bone; the dark sinful color only brought out his California-sun tanned complexion and bleached hair even more. His black jeans rode low on his hips and fell over the black motorcycle boots. Just when had Logan abandoned his khakis and Italian leather shoes for jeans and boots? It didn't really matter because he was certainly the most beautiful man alive and she was more than a little flattered that his attention was solely focused on her.

"Hey, Ace. You look beautiful," he drawled sexily while he leaned in to press a chaste kiss to her cheek.

"Why, thank you. You clean up quite nicely too, Huntzberger. I like the new style," she murmured coyly while a blush bloomed on her ivory cheekbones.

"Thanks. Turns out I wasn't much for khakis and Italian loafers once I was away from my old man's influence. God only knows how I managed to survive over twenty years without jeans."

She snorted lightly. "Yeah, a tragedy."

Logan laughed and held his hand out. "You ready to go?"

She took the offered appendage with a soft smile. "Sure. Just a second, though. This," she pointed to the red-head standing in the doorway to her bedroom, "is Maggie Chase, a friend and co-worker. She's also my roommate."

Logan stuck out his free hand for Maggie to shake and put on his most charming smile. "Nice to meet you. Logan Huntzberger, ex and hopefully future boyfriend."

Maggie laughed, a full and pleasant sound before giving his hand a slight squeeze and letting go. "Nice to meet you, too. I heard a lot about you and I hope to see more of you around here."

It was Rory's turn to laugh. "You and I both, Mags. Unfortunately, for me that is, Maggie is getting married in two months and I'll be left alone."

At her pout Logan chuckled and pressed a sweet kiss to her nose. "Congrats, Maggie. Tell your boyfriend he's one lucky man."

"Thanks, will do."

"Okay, Ace, let's get going."

She swept her free arm in a wide arc. "Lead the way, oh fearless leader."

They both laughed and left the apartment after bidding goodnight to Maggie.

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><p>Pizza at Ray's had been as good as Logan had promised, if not better. The atmosphere in the small establishment was charming and cozy; the owner a short, heavy-set Italian with raven-black hair accented with white here and there and warm hazel eyes simply oozed charisma even if he flirted with every female that walked through his door. It set Rory at ease immediately and she was able to enjoy her evening with Logan fully, without letting the anxiety of their situation cloud the atmosphere.<p>

Logan was relaxed as well, full of charm with an easy smile and witty joke ready at moment's notice. An outsider looking in wouldn't see two people who were desperately trying to rebuild a previously slaughtered relationship, but rather a couple completely taken by each other. It would be nice if things were as easy outside that little one-night bubble they'd built up.

Some day they would be, Rory silently promised to herself and reached across the table to squeeze Logan's hand. Logan smiled warmly and turned his hand in hers, entwining their fingers. Problems or not; for the first time in a long while they were both on the same page and they would make it work. Their love wasn't something either was ready to give up. Not after three long years of separation.

Time would tell them more, but for now they were just content to be.

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><p><strong>As always many thanks to my wonderful beta <span><em>xshynenstarx<em> for her support and great work. Please enjoy and tell me what you think.**

**Jas**


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